A son remembers
by Itarille1
Summary: Short pieces concerning Denethor and Faramir. If you hate Denethor, do not read this.
1. Chapter 1

How should I begin to tell the story of my father? Why should I tell the story at all? Who are they to judge him? Have they ever shouldered a tenth of the burdens he had born for years? Can they ever know how it feels to be a lord of a decaying realm? No, I suppose they do not know, and will not know.

Why should they want to know of him? He was the Steward of Gondor, and in the end Gondor was delivered, is it not enough for them to remember him thus? He was the Steward of Gondor, and Gondor was saved, though not for him, and some said, not by him. Not by him! Not by him indeed! Do they think the Shadow appeared in a sudden on the day of the siege? Do they forget how the Shadow had always been a constant threat for years? Who had defended Gondor during those long, bitter years? Countless of soldiers and men, granted, but who had born the greatest burden, whose nights had been most sleepless? I know what I am speaking of, for I know him not only as my lord, but also as my father. Do they think that without his vigilance there will be a city left for the riders of the Mark, or the King, to succour?

When I say 'they' I am speaking of those young scholars (though in truth they do not deserve to be called scholar!) who in these recent years have with fervour written several accounts on the sixth-and-twenty Ruling Steward. Some of them were not even born when he departed, all of them were playing in their cot when he spent his sleepless nights planning the defence of Gondor. But they have written about him as if they knew him as well as they knew their bosom friend.

I am grateful that the people are more sensible than them. The people, they do not easily forget. Those who have lived in Denethor's days, they remembered the Lord of the City with gratitude. But I am worried for the younger generations. If the only accounts they have of him are those written by those self-appointed scholars, what are they to think of him?

What is more disgusting to me is that these scholars seem to generally agree that Denethor's greatest crime was his treatment of me. Since they claim that their accounts are historical accounts concerning the state of Gondor during the late Third Age, I cannot understand why they should be interested to record the Steward's relation with his sons. He was a capable Steward, why should they be interested on his capability as a father?

My relation with my father is not easy to describe. We often disagreed with each other, we had different views on many things. We did exchange some bitter words, but let the desperate situation at which those bitter words were uttered be remembered. He favoured Boromir more than me, was it a crime? I cherish spring more than autumn, does it mean I detest every day in that season? He favoured Boromir more, why should he not? They had an easier relationship, just as I too had an easier relationship with my brother and clearly favoured him more than I did my father. But that does not mean that he had been an unjust father. Boromir and I received the same treatment and breeding. My father and I, we had some good memories too.


	2. Chapter 2

"Should we arrange for his funeral one of these days?" asked Hurín.

"We will place his ashes with honour in the Great Hall," said Faramir. "But the funeral will have to wait. There is still hope that the lords of Gondor will return. If that hope proves to be true, then I would that all of them attend his funeral, as is only proper for a Steward's funeral. I would not have generations to come, indeed in these gloomy days I still believe there will be generations to come," he paused for a moment, "I would not have them say that Denethor died in shame and thus his funeral was performed hastily and secretively."

"It shall be as you wish," Hurín said. He looked at Faramir and spoke again, "You are much like him, Faramir."

"Strange, is it not," replied Faramir, "that I take it as a compliment to be compared to someone who met such a tragic end?"

Hurín nodded. "I did mean it as a compliment. You are alike to him in your strong will and mind. But I believe that you will never meet his end. For you are alike, but not completely."


	3. Chapter 3

"Why should we honour a mad man who abandoned his city and even tried to kill his own son?"

Aragorn looked at him sharply. "Be careful with your tongue, young man of Gondor. It was a Steward of Gondor that you are speaking of. He was a great man that sadly succumbed into despair. No one in my realm shall call him a madman. He never abandoned Minas Tirith. At his last moments he cared not for the battle for he was with his dying son, but he left the defence in the capable hands of Mithrandir."

"As for the pyre he set for his son," another voice said calmly, "let that son bid you a word of wisdom: speak not of things you know not!"

The young man found himself trembled before his King and Steward.


	4. Chapter 4

"Betray his last wish? I am afraid I must do that, though I love him, if his wish is against the fortune of Gondor. But do not think that I made this decision lightly, without any grief. I grieve over him, I greatly grieve that I, his only remaining son, should not be able to fulfil his last wish. I know this, and when I meet him beyond this world I will beg his forgiveness." His voice was cold as he calmly ended, "But I do not see that I am in need of _your_ forgiveness or approbation, my good lord. You are free to speak your thoughts concerning the claim of the Lord Aragorn, for it is for that purpose that we all gather here, but I forbid you from taunting me with the sacred memory of my late father."


End file.
